


something borrowed

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Wedding traditions, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29410440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: The story of how the women in Daisy's life help her prepare to be married.
Relationships: Bobbi Morse & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Sharon Carter & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa, Yo Yo Rodriguez & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 18
Kudos: 77





	something borrowed

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this fic back in December, lost my way with it, then got randomly inspired to finish. I hope you enjoy!

The day after Daniel proposes, Kora sits Daisy down and says, “I think it’s time to talk about Mom.”

“Yeah,” she answers. “It probably is.”

(They’ve avoided talking about Jiaying, probably for too long, but the wound is still painful even three years later - it tugs and twists and burns and Daisy thinks maybe, just maybe, it’s never going to stop hurting.)

“What happened?”

It had been easy to avoid the question when Kora was just a stranger with her mother’s eyes, but now Daisy looks into her sister’s face and wonders how she could ever resent that Kora got to grow up with a mother - wonders how she could ever fault Kora for running away when she was scared. 

Daisy takes a deep, shaking breath, and thinks she should lie. Kora knows things did not end well between Daisy and their mother, but spelling it out in excruciating detail will just cause more hurt. Kora deserves to remember her mother as she was in Kora’s timeline, not in Daisy’s. She deserves to remember a mother who would sacrifice the world for her daughter, not a mother who would sacrifice her daughter for the world.

“Why now?” Daisy asks instead of answering.

“I have something for you.” Kora’s gaze doesn’t waver; neither does her voice. “But I want to know if you want it first.”

“What is it?”

“Tell me what happened.” Kora crosses her arms and just for a moment Daisy regrets that her sister is just as stubborn as she is.

“You know in my timeline, you died,” Daisy says slowly. Kora’s eyes flash with hurt and Daisy reaches out to take her sister’s hand. Kora’s hands are so small in hers, and even though Kora is older by the calendar, there’s no doubt when Daisy looks across the table, she’s looking at a younger sister, not an older one. “I don’t think Mom ever recovered from that. And she already… Kora, you have to understand, she wasn’t a bad person. Just a hurt person.”

“What’s the difference?” Kora whispers. “Why won’t you tell me what she did?”

 _Because I want you to love your mother still,_ Daisy wants to say. _Because I don’t understand how she kept living after losing you._ Daisy knows what it’s like to lose - she’s lost a friend, a mother, a lover, a father, she’s even lost herself. But she can’t imagine losing her sister, her baby sister. Losing a child is even more unfathomable, and Daisy thinks maybe, just maybe, it would drive her to madness, too.

“Mom tried to kill me, Kora.”

Kora’s inhale cuts open the silence, sharper than any knife.

Daisy lets the declaration sit in the space between them, lets go of Kora’s hand when she pulls it back.

“Why?” Kora asks finally.

“Because I had something she wanted.” It’s not the whole truth but Kora already looks like she’s about to fall apart at the seams, _this_ is the reason Daisy never wanted to talk about Jiaying - talking about it wasn't making her (or Kora) feel any better.

“I…” Kora loses track of the sentence before she can even truly start it, staring down at the backs of her hands like they might give her some answers.

“It’s okay,” Daisy says. She reaches for Kora again tentatively, clasping her sister’s hand between hers. Her sister’s hands are not her mother’s hands. Her sister’s hands were not created to steal life - they were created to give it, and give abundantly. That’s what Kora does - she gives, and gives, and gives, so much that sometimes Daisy worries she’ll wake up and just find a husk because Kora gave herself away. Her sister is not a monster. Daisy doesn’t believe their mother was, either. “ _I’m_ okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You just said it was because I -” 

“Kora,” Daisy interrupts. “How Mom reacted to that isn’t your fault. She already had a lot she didn’t share with you… with either of us.” It still haunts Daisy, sometimes, how much of her mother she’s only learned in hindsight.

“I’m still sorry. That you didn’t know her like I did.” Kora squeezes Daisy’s hands. “You deserved the version of Mom I knew.”

“I know I did.” But the universe has rarely ever cared about what Daisy Johnson _deserves_. “But I’m glad you got her.”

“Yeah,” Kora whispers, looking down. “Me too.”

“What do you have?” Daisy prompts after they’ve both sat in silence long enough for the sadness to subside. “That you wanted to give me?”

“It’s something of hers.” Kora lets go of Daisy’s hands to dig in a hidden pocket, and when she withdraws her hand there’s a sparkling silver necklace sliding between her fingers. “She gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”

“It’s yours,” Daisy insists. She doesn’t want to take something of their mother’s from Kora - not when it means so much more to her sister than it does to her.

“It’s something old,” Kora says instead, setting the necklace on the table between them. “I know she wasn’t your mother but -”

“She will always be my mother,” Daisy interrupts. “And she gave me one of the best things in my life, okay?” Her relationship with her mother had never gotten to be everything Daisy had hoped for when she was a little girl in the orphanage dreaming of a family, but Daisy had never let herself dream of a sister, and now she has one. 

“Can you wear it?” Kora asks, voice small. “If not for her, then for me.”

“Of course.” Daisy takes the necklace in her hand, running her thumb over the smooth heart-shaped locket. “I’ll wear it for both of you.”

Daisy has something old. 

\---

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Sharon says when she and Daisy settle into a back corner of a coffee shop. “Daniel’s told me a lot about you.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you, too.” Daisy cracks a smile. At first she’d thought it was a little weird her then-boyfriend now-fiancé had wanted to track down his ex-girlfriend’s niece, but she gets it now. She’s basically the closest thing Sousa has to family in the present, and she's a badass and she has such _kind_ eyes that Daisy wants to spill her guts within moments of meeting Sharon.

“Daniel told me he proposed,” Sharon says, sipping at her coffee. “About time, I think.”

Daisy tries not to choke on her own drink at that declaration. “You think?” she repeats dumbly.

“Just the stories he’s told me about you. And your sister, too.” Sharon sets her drink down carefully. “He needs a family, you know? I try my best to be his… I don’t know, sister? Cousin? But I think he needs more, and you give him that.”

“That’s funny,” Daisy says, reaching subconsciously for the necklace she hasn’t taken off since Kora gave it to her. “Because he kind of gave me my family, too.” Without Daniel there would’ve been no S.H.I.E.L.D. as she knew it, and without S.H.I.E.L.D. Daisy wouldn’t have had the best people in her life. Sharon’s aunt had a large part to play in that, too, so it’s right that she’s here.

“The world always works out in funny ways.” Sharon smiles wryly. “Daniel’s told me you’re still ironing out wedding details, but chances are I won’t be able to be there. It’s classified.” Her smile grows more teasing and Daisy’s heart warms. She gets it now, how Daniel sees Sharon as a sister, a confidante - she jokes like an older sister does.

(Daisy knows that, because now _she’s_ an older sister, and that sounds exactly like something she would say to Kora. It’s nice to build a family alongside the one she already has.)

“That blows,” Daisy says. She would’ve liked more excuses to talk to Sharon and get to know her, if Sharon’s going to be Daisy’s sort-of sister-in-law. 

“It does. But I was wondering if it would be okay if I pitched in a little?” Sharon cocks her head to the side, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder.

“…How?” Daisy asks, unable to decide if she’s more suspicious or curious.

“A little birdie told me flowers are really important to you. Which I should have guessed, because Daisy,” Sharon says. “I was wondering if you’d let me pay for the flowers? Or at least the bridal bouquet. I get that normally the bride’s family is the one who offers to pay for stuff, but…” For the first time Sharon looks unsure of herself, and it catches Daisy off-guard. “I want you to know I’m really excited about this, you know? For Daniel, definitely, but also for you.” She sweeps her hair behind her ear, straightening slightly. “It sounds like this is going to be good for both of you.”

“I… yeah, if you want, I’m not going to say no,” Daisy says, proud of herself for only stumbling a little over her words. It feels like so much more than just an offer to pay for a bouquet, but she doesn’t know Sharon enough to pinpoint exactly what else she’s suggesting. “And it is. Good, I mean. _He_ is good.” Daniel is good, and Daisy is _happy_ , and that’s more than she’s been able to say for a lot of her life.

“I know he is.” Sharon picks up her coffee again, the threads of uncertainty sliding off her now that Daisy’s accepted her proposition. “Would you mind looking at a few ideas I had for your bouquet? I was thinking maybe some fresh cut daisies as a centerpiece.”

Sharon pulls out her phone to begin scrolling through pictures and Daisy leans over earnestly, offering her opinion on each.

Daisy has something new.

\---

“Sorry it’s a bit of a mess,” Elena calls to the front door when Daisy lets herself in.

Elena says the same thing every Sunday when Daisy comes over for dinner, and every Sunday she waves her friend off with a smile. Mack and Elena’s home isn’t a mess - it’s the sort of organized chaos that people need before getting too stifled. The reason the house feels like a home even if they’re both gone half the time for missions is because of the so-called mess. The picture frames on the walls are slightly crooked and there’s always some knick-knack out of place, but Mack and Elena’s home is bursting with color and _life_. Daisy wouldn’t like it if it was more orderly.

“You’re fine,” Daisy says, sliding her shoes off at the door and padding in her socked feet back to the kitchen where Elena’s still working. “Smells good,” Daisy comments.

“You know it’s _arepas_ ,” Elena chides, smiling. “Just like I make every time you’re home.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t smell good.”

“Just the two of us for dinner tonight.” Elena brushes the corn meal off her hands and begins untying her apron. Daisy clicks her tongue and makes Elena spin around for her. Sometimes the prosthetics still get finicky with small things like knots, and it’s better for both of them if Elena doesn’t get too frustrated.

“I was hoping we could talk, actually.” Daisy finishes untying the knot and takes the apron from Elena, draping it over a hook on the wall.

“About?” Elena prompts.

“My wedding.”

“You know I’m no good with planning.” Elena grins. She and Mack had gone to the courthouse and then held a small reception in their backyard precisely to avoid having to plan anything huge.

“It’s not anything with planning,” Daisy assures her. “I actually was wondering if I could borrow something?”

“What?”

Daisy shrugs. “I don’t know. Anything. It’s tradition.”

Elena stops moving - a rare feat for her - to stare at Daisy. “You want to borrow something from _me_?”

“It’s supposed to come from someone who’s happily married. You’re happily married.” Daisy tries not to be too self-conscious at Elena’s obvious shock at being asked. “You and Mack have the kind of marriage I want, you know? You care about each other, you have a family together, you support each other’s dreams.”

“Yes,” Elena says softly. “We do.”

The oven beeps, interrupting the moment, and Elena twirls around until she finds the pot holders she left on the counter. She pulls the arepas out of the oven and kills the heat under the chicken she’d been cooking alongside it, whizzing both to the table before Daisy can so much as blink.

“Let’s eat first,” Elena suggests. “Give me some time to think.”

Daisy nods, hoping that Elena’s thinking about what to give her and not whether to give her anything at all.

They settle into dinner together, exchanging stories from their past few weeks apart. Daisy and Daniel had gone on an unexpected jaunt to space at the behest of a friend of a friend of Coulson’s, which wasn’t fun if only because of the number of wedding-related calls she’d missed and had to return later.

“Why me?” Elena asks when their plates are cleared and they’ve moved on from anecdotes to whatever pops into their heads.

“Because you’re my friend,” Daisy answers evenly. “And like I said, when I think of marriage, I think of you and Mack. When I think of what I want my future to be, I think… this.” Daisy thinks about life in the city, of partners who choose each other every day, of a house full of knick-knacks and bright colors and laughter. She doesn't think about green grass or running away or the universe trying to rip her and Daniel apart.

“I have something.” Elena stands, and instead of using her powers she walks away from the table and up the stairs like a normal person. Daisy doesn’t question why she chooses that, just lets her go.

Elena comes back with a black velvet box that she sets on the table carefully, reverently.

“Mack gave me these for our first anniversary,” she says, opening the box to reveal a pair of earrings nestled in white silk. “They’re sea glass from a beach in Colombia.”

The earrings are beautiful, multi-hued teal and periwinkle and cerulean sparkling in the light like the ocean they came from. Elena and the ocean have a complicated

“I’m sure he won’t mind you borrowing them.” She pushes the box forward and Daisy accepts it, entirely too aware of how much these mean to Elena.

“Te quiero, ¿sabes?” Daisy tilts her chin up so her brown eyes can meet Elena’s. 

“Lo sé,” Elena whispers. “Lo sé.”

Daisy has something borrowed.

\---

Daisy knocks softly on the door to May’s office before entering, savoring the small smile on the older woman’s face when she sees Daisy in the doorway.

The empathy powers have taken some getting used to, but now beneath feeling others’ emotions, May can feel her own again. It’s nice, to see this new version of May, who knows her emotions and others’ and can channel them into something productive - just the way she’d taught Daisy too all those years ago.

“Need help grading?” Daisy offers when she sinks into the chair opposite May’s desk. A pile of essays sits on one corner, untouched. Grading is May’s least favorite part of her position at the Academy, and Daisy can’t say she blames her. 

“How much do you know about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s transitioning power structures in the Cold War era?” May asks.

“Uh, little to none.” Daisy’s sure she could find some stuff out from one of the books on May’s overburdened bookshelf, but it’s probably not much quicker than May grading all the papers herself.

“That’s what I thought.” She smiles again, and Daisy holds back a happy sigh from escaping. It’s nice to not have the world in imminent peril, to worry about whether or not she knows the minutiae of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s history instead of whether or not S.H.I.E.L.D. will exist tomorrow.

“Why’d you want to see me?” Daisy has to admit, getting the call had felt somewhat like being called to the principal’s office when she was in school, only markedly less stressful since she knows May can’t expel her. She can definitely give a solid _I’m not angry, just disappointed_ speech, though.

“I have something for you.” May opens a desk drawer and hands Daisy its contents - two embroidery floss bracelets, one in bright scarlet and the other in cerulean blue that will match the earrings Elena gave her to borrow.

“Daniel told me you were looking for something blue,” she explains at Daisy’s look of askance. “And it’s traditional in Chinese culture for brides to wear red on their wedding day. I thought you might like to have both.”

“I would,” Daisy says, sliding the bracelets onto her wrist. They fit snugly against her pulse point, and she can cover them with the long sleeves of her wedding dress if she wants.

She doesn’t want to, though.

Daisy has something blue.

\---

Daisy walks into the wedding venue like walking on clouds. She hasn’t felt this light, this excited, in… maybe ever. She is going to get married to someone she loves, and it is brilliant.

May leads her down the hallway to the room where she’ll get ready, and Daisy halts in front of the door and the envelope taped onto it.

“Is this from you?” 

“No.” May is convincing enough, but Elena’s smiling, her chin tucked in a valiant attempt to hide it, and Daisy’s curiosity only sharpens.

She takes the envelope off the door and steps inside, letting the others spill into the room behind her.

“Well?” Elena prompts, pointing to the envelope.

Daisy peels it open and pulls out the contents: a shiny silver coin and a scrap of paper with a note scrawled on it.

_And a six-pence in your shoe._

The handwriting nips at the edges of her consciousness - she should remember it, she _does_ remember it, but she can’t figure out how or why. The writing is distinctly feminine but it’s not Kora’s handwriting, or Elena’s, or May’s, or even Sharon’s. 

“I think I should be offended.”

The voice sends it all sliding into place, and a moment later Daisy is in Bobbi’s arms, clutching her friend close.

“I can’t stay long,” Bobbi says apologetically. “But I heard you were getting married and I couldn’t miss it.”

“How?” Daisy asks. How is Bobbi here, how had she heard, just - _how_?

“That’s classified.” She smiles teasingly, and -

 _A little birdie told me,_ her almost-sister-in-law had said.

“Sharon?”

“I said, _classified_.” Bobbi winks and Daisy has a hundred more questions she wants to ask, but instead she pulls Bobbi in for another hug.

“Happiness looks good on you, _sestra_ ,” Bobbi murmurs when they break apart again. She tucks a strand of hair behind Daisy’s ear, the gesture soft and familiar despite all the time they’ve spent apart.

“You too.” Bobbi eyes crinkle at the corners - laugher lines - and the golden blonde of her hair spills around her face like sunshine. Daisy knows she can’t ask too much about what Bobbi’s been doing, but it’s enough to know that her friend still smiles easily.

“I really should go, but if you ever need me, you know who can find me.” Bobbi goes around the rest of the room giving hugs and kisses on the cheek (though that might’ve just been for Elena) before disappearing out the back door she’d come through.

Daisy still has the silver coin clutched in her palm, the only proof the quick minute of seeing Bobbi again had been more than a dream.

“You’d better put that in your shoe,” Elena says when she notices Daisy staring.

“Right.” Daisy sets it on the edge of the table, because she still needs to change into her dress and she won’t be putting her shoes on until after she’s ready. 

Daisy has a six-pence in her shoe.

(One hour later, she says _I do_.)


End file.
